Polarize filter or no Polarize filter

Should I use a polarize filter?

Many would argue that today it si so easy to enrich color in Photoshop that the polarize filter is no longer necessary.

Well I still see at least 3 or 4 advantages in screwing one in front of my lens

1. The first obvious one is you don't need to push colors in PS avoiding time spent in front of your computer screen.
2. The second one is, it reduces reflections (glass, water)
3. Three, it darken your sky

Disadvantages?

You loose around 2 F stops, meaning if you handheld your camera you have to push your ISO somehow degrading the picture quality although today with cameras getting better and better it is not so obvious. Since you are a landscape photographer you travel with your tripod everywhere isn't it?

One more thing, be aware that at high altitude your polarize filter will turn your blue sky to a black sky!

What an Artist is paid for

An Artist is paid for the vision and experience not for the labour

One more word on The Blue Light

I just remember that a young lady, the previous day, who was watching my camera LCD, said “what I visualize isn’t what I see on your LCD screen”, and she was right. The answer is, the camera has the ability to pick up tones and colors that you don’t normally see, bear in mind that your eye adjusts to any light situation. So what you see in real life isn’t always what you see on your LCD screen.
When it comes to night photography, for me, the best moment is just after the blue light when the sky still has got enough light to give you a kind of blue dark sky but not a solid dark. See photograph below. Would have this pic be the same with a solid dark sky? There is no enhancement to it, just a crop at the bottom.

What is and when is the Blue Hour in Photography

Have you ever heard about The Blue Hour in Photography?

Photographers use to describe specific parts of the day when the light has some special effect on their photography. The best known is the golden hour that almost everyone knows. The blue hour is this time of the day before sunrise or after sunset when the light takes on a strong blue hue or tone. It last about 20 to 30 minutes and will vary from location to location and depending on time of the year. To record it properly set your white balance on day light. Auto white balance won't record the true blueish light.

This morning hoping for a sunrise I set up my camera on the Eiffel Tower and capture those pics. By the way my hope for the sunrise vanished since the sky was getting rapidly very cloudy. Never mind, next time!

Below example of pictures taken during blue hour.

On this 21^st of April sunrise was due at 6:50 am and was supposed to hit the foot of the Eiffel Tower.

this first picture mixes city light with blue hour and was taken at 6:28am

This one taken at at 6:37 am

This one at 6:46 am, you can see the thick layer of clouds already on the horizon.

This one minutes later taken taken at 6:49am at a slightly different location shows already more light but still keeps the blue tone.

Or this one taken at 7:11 after sunrise keeps a slightly blue tone

By setting your camera on cloudy, you can of course reduce the effect 

or on auto white balance but of course it doesn't reflect the reallity.

but in the end it depends on what you want to show.

Hope you enjoy this explanation.

When rushing to upgrade your OS it is not necessary a good idea!

Before upgrading make sure that all your softwares, drivers and on will be compatible with it.

Read the following educating story.

Where Lion can't be used

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/government/how-to-install-snow-leopard-on-a-brand-new-lion-based-mac/10652?tag=nl.e539

Enjoy

Stand on your ground

When it comes to street photography we are facing loose of freedom. We all have been told by security people that we are not allowed to photograph buildings or whatever for many and different reasons.

During the London Street Photography Festival in July 2011(http://londonstreetphotographyfestival.org/) Dpreview has conducted an experiment with six photographers accompanied with 6 videographers to see how easy it is shoot around the city. “Stand on your ground”

To see more please click on the following link.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/1107/11072115streetphotog.asp

or on youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJH9F7Hcluo&feature=player_embedded

or on PetaPixel

http://www.petapixel.com/2011/07/20/six-photographers-test-their-right-to-shoot-in-london/

Worth watch it.

Enjoy and learn!

Am I a Travel Photographer?

This is a legitimate question since I say that I travel the globe!

Unfortunately I'm not. I'm a Photographer doing tourism with his family or with a cultural association. Do I take good or great shots, I believe I do. I learnt over the years to be extremely reactive. 

I'm just a picture-taker dependent upon circumstances beyond my control.

Years ago a traveler with a camera was a potential Travel Photographer. Bringing back exotic photographs made people interested in your journey. In a recent post I said that people are bombarded with visual and it is also true with travel photography. It is so easy today to go overseas and bring back hundred if not thousands of exotic pictures, some are good and if not at least some are interesting, all posted on Picassa Web Album or similar. Does it make you or me a Travel Photographer? It used to be but not anymore.

Do Travel Photographers still exist ? Of course they do. But travel photography has been taken to a whole new level. More on that later...